REVIEW: THE SHOW BY JOHN HELDT

Amazon.com 

Blurb:

Seattle, 1941. Grace Vandenberg, 21, is having a bad day. Minutes after Pearl Harbor is attacked, she learns that her boyfriend is a time traveler from 2000 who has abandoned her for a future he insists they cannot share. Determined to save their love, she follows him into the new century. But just when happiness is within her grasp, she accidentally enters a second time portal and exits in 1918. Distraught and heartbroken, Grace starts a new life in the age of Woodrow Wilson, silent movies, and the Spanish flu. She meets her parents as young, single adults and befriends a handsome, wounded Army captain just back from the war. In THE SHOW, the sequel to THE MINE, Grace finds love and friendship in the ashes of tragedy as she endures the trial of her life.

Review:

The Show is a sequel to Heldt's The Mine. I know. When you go to Amazon, it says Northwest Passage #3, but trust me. It really is the sequel to #1, The Mine.

In The Show, we pick up with Grace following Joel's trail and finding her way in the year 2000. She arrives at a different date and uses the resources available to her to locate some of her former classmates. Obviously, she and Joel get together. They make a great life together, kids and all. I don't to give to much away, but Grace gets to be a time traveler again. She locates her long lost family in 1918.

I found the story interesting, although the pace was slower than The Mine. After thinking about it, I decided that was in part because I already knew that Grace and Joel ended up together. I just didn't know how far into the story I would have to go to get there. Patience is not a virtue I possess in great abundance and will in no way fault the author. The tale was very interesting, with a few twists and turns I didn't expect. Honestly, I kept waiting for Grace to be her own mother. She didn't exactly follow the usual sci-fi rule about not altering the timeline. In the end, I was left scratching my head over a few points and asking myself, "How could that have possibly worked out?"

All in all, I liked it. The head scratching at the end actually added to the mystery. The language and scenes are suitable for a general audience. Nothing very saucy is presented. Much like The Mine, this more of a science fiction time travel story than a romance. It just happens to have a romantic element that plays a part in the heroine's decision making process. Be sure to read book one first before tackling The Show. It will add a lot to the experience.